“Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,
Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for
thee,
Sounds of the rude world, heard in the day,
Lull’d by the moonlight have all passed
away …”
~
“Beautiful Dreamer”
~parlor
song by American songwriter
Stephen Foster
~
1826-1864
~published
posthumously in March 1864
~
one of Foster’s most memorable ballads & best loved works
~ recorded by Bing Crosby in 1940 &
various other artists
~
Foster, known as “the father of American music,” was an American songwriter
known primarily for his parlor music. He wrote more than 200 songs, including
“Oh! Susanna,” “Hard Times Come Again No More,” “Camptown Races,” “Old Folks At
Home” (“Swanee River”), “My Old Kentucky Home,” “Jeannie with the Light Brown
Hair” and “Beautiful Dreamer.” Many of his compositions remain popular today.
He has been identified as “the most famous songwriter of the nineteenth century”
and may be the most recognizable American composer in other countries. His
compositions are sometimes referred to as “childhood songs” because they have
been included in the music curriculum of early education. Most of his
handwritten music manuscripts are lost, but editions issued by publishers of
his day can be found in various collections.
An April sunset beckons as a beautiful
blossom waits for a nearby bud to wake and bloom on my favorite pink magnolia
tree at Trexler Memorial Park, Allentown, Pennsylvania.
